


Fancy Dress

by Paycheckgurl



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Halloween celebrations, Ianto’s goth phase, Plotless, gun use, halloween fest 2020, i will make that a tag I will
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:00:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27175561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paycheckgurl/pseuds/Paycheckgurl
Summary: Halloween Torchwood Style.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23
Collections: Torchwood Fan Fests: Halloween Fest 2020





	Fancy Dress

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the “Halloween Celebrations” prompt for Torchwood Fanfests. 
> 
> I’m not sure if they had a Halloween while Owen was undead, but I chose to ignore it because Timelines are fake anyway.

Gwen hadn’t exactly expected Ianto to do more for his Halloween costume than throw one of those front tie vampire capes over one of his usual prestinly pressed suits and waistcoats. Sure, he’d put lots of gusto into the Tourist Information Centre’s decor, attaching webs, and fake spiders, and lining the desk with little gravestone standees. But, that was decoration. That was different than Ianto actually showing up to work in fancy dress. 

So she’d been surprised. She’d also...maybe...kind of brought her gun out and almost shot him. 

“Gwen! Gwen! It’s  _ me! _ ” he shouted. 

“Bloody hell, Ianto you scared the crap out of me!” 

He rolled his eyes. “It’s Halloween, that’s the point.” 

In Gwen’s defense, Ianto’s getup was realistic. Or maybe it wasn’t so much that it was realistic, but that aliens, like Weevils and Nostravites, tended to look like people in Halloween costumes to the untrained eye. Reality being stranger than fiction, Ianto’s elaborate zombie outfit, complete with uncharacteristic tattered suit and some kind of latex make up effect, made her instantly jumpy. 

“Oh my god I’m sorry love, I’m so sorry.”

Gwen was pretty sure she was forgiven given the way Ianto was very clearly laughing at her, although she made a mental note to get him some sweets later anyway as an apology gesture. The bakery a bit further down the Plass was doing festive Halloween fairy cakes decorated like bats on orange frosting. 

Tosh had barely managed to hide an amused smile and muttered something about “he had a goth phase, are we surprised he’d go all out”. Gwen made a mental note to ask (mildly harass in the name of friendly curiosity) Ianto about his goth phase once she’d managed to buy him that forgiveness pastry later. 

“This suit got absolutely ruined during that hoix incident last month,” said Ianto. “Figured I’d put it to good use yet. And I found the best tutorial for this makeup online.” 

Gwen glanced over at Tosh. She hadn’t done much of anything for a costume, but had donned a small set of cat ears attached by a headband. Still, she looked quite pleased with the small bowl of candy at her station, as she unwrapped the plastic covering of a pack of Smarties. 

Owen on the other hand, actually hadn’t done anything at all. Which was surprising, as she’d immediately pegged him for a horror movie fan back on her first week on the job. 

“No costume, Owen?” Gwen asked. 

“I’m going as the living dead. Hey, wait a second. Jones you stole my costume!” 

Once again, Ianto rolled his eyes. 

“He’s mocking me for being dead, he is…” Owen began. “I should file a harassment complaint.” 

“This is Torchwood if we had harassment complaint forms we’d get nothing else done,” quipped Gwen. 

“We do actually have harassment forms,” deadpanned Ianto. “Jack has several cabinets dedicated to the ones against him alone. And those are just the ones from this decade. I Think he had the ones from other points this century destroyed.”

There were a distinct set of footsteps. 

“Speak of the Devil…” said Ianto. 

Sometimes, Gwen let herself forget how  _ ridiculous  _ a human being Captain Jack Harkness was. And then...he did something like this. Jack was dressed in a tight fitting red...shirt thing (it was almost like a jumper or jacket), tight black trousers (they were really more like a pair of tights, and left little to the imagination), and a distinctive red cap. 

“Captain Scarlet. Fitting.” said Ianto. 

“Fill in someone that missed out on the whole Captain Scarlet thing as a kid,” said Owen. “Is it like Kirk where he’s a sex crazed maniac?” 

“Space fairing Captain that effectively can’t die and heals from all wounds,” said Tosh. 

“Ahhh irony from that direction then.” 

“It’s like what you were trying to do but with actual effort,” said Tosh. 

She looked between Jack and Ianto. “No effects makeup?” 

“Ianto wouldn’t tell me his costume, I said we should match!”

“And I said the thought of matching costumes was terrible, and doubled my efforts to be mysterious about mine,” said Ianto. 

“Rhys and I match. He’s going as a jail bird…”

The former PC Cooper, was dressed in a sexy variant of a standard PC uniform. Notably swapping out the trousers for a short skirt, like the kind Tosh usually favoured. 

Ianto opened his mouth slightly, and then very noticeably clamped it shut. To his credit he did not try to verbally backtrack with “uhhhh they’re nice when you do it.” But Gwen could see him fighting the impulse. She’d tease him if it weren’t for the fact she still owed him that “sorry I almost shot you” fairy cake. 

“Alright kids,” said Jack. “You know the drill. A lot of our guests and interplanetary transplants like to use this holiday as an excuse to go out in public looking a bit more like themselves than they usually do. Make sure they’re not being too obvious or giving the locals a Halloween ‘trick’ they didn’t bargain for. Otherwise, undercover. Don’t shoot some poor kid that went crazy on the special effects.” 

All eyes were on Gwen. 

“It’s a good costume!” she insisted. 

“I’m taking it as a compliment, really.” said Ianto.

“Otherwise have fun.” said Jack. “Now get to work.” 

The five of them scattered. Gwen and Owen for the first shift watch. Ianto went to the tourist centre to begin putting out candy for the vendor trick or treat event all the local shops were participants in. Tosh began typing away and glanced at some CCTV footage. No one was quite sure where Jack had gone off to, but they were all hoping to find Captain Scarlet moping on a rooftop, forgetting that the angsty Batman routine did not work as well without The Coat. It was early still but the Plass was already buzzing. 

Later, Gwen showed up to the tourist centre with a box of pastries. “So...goth phase?” 


End file.
